An unofficial blog about the National Museum of Health and Medicine (nee the Army Medical Museum) in Silver Spring, MD. Visit for news about the museum, new projects, musing on the history of medicine and neat pictures.

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Friday, December 12, 2008

A searchable (federal) web

The Washington Post recently ran an article about making information on federal web pages more findable. I wish I was more technically savvy so I could really understand the difficulties, but I think it has to do with how deeply buried the pages are. The article cites as an example the user having to fill out a form before certain information can be accessed, and those pages aren't visible to web crawlers. There's an effort going on to improve the situation because, as we know, if people can't find something on Google they assume it doesn't exist. In some cases, if the user goes to the federal agency's website they can get at the information, but many people don't know anything beyond Google.

This reminds me of a session I attended at a Webwise conference in 2007 on a slightly different topic, but still about accessibility. The presenters talked about the Web-at-Risk project that tries to archive federal web pages before they disappear. Their example was "numerous Web sites and blogs that emerged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (to help direct aid and provide real-time information for the affected area)" that were fast disappearing. It was a very interesting session and if you're interested in reading about it, it's on page 12 of the Webwise proceedings link that's linked above.

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Who are we?

Mike Rhode was the chief archivist of the Museum from 1989-2011, and is the founder of this blog. I maintain an interest in the course of the museum, and will be posting relevant information.

The Army Medical Museum was founded in 1862 during the American Civil War. After World War II, a parent-child relationship was inverted and the Museum became part of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Since then, the Museum has moved around Washington, stopping for years in Ford's Theatre, and on the National Mall where the building it shared with the National Library of Medicine once stood, until it was demolished in 1968 for the Hirshhorn Museum. For 35 years it was at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and now is in Silver Spring, MD.

So what about that blog name?

It's historical. I found it in a quote from one of the former curators. World War II confirmed the Army Medical Museum's primary role in pathology consultation. James Ash, the curator during the war and a pathologist, noted, "Shortly after the last war, more concerted efforts were instituted to concentrate in the Army Medical Museum the significant pathologic material occurring in Army installations." He closed with the complaint, "We still suffer under the connotation museum, an institution still thought of by many as a repository for bottled monsters and medical curiosities. To be sure, we have such specimens. As is required by law, we maintain an exhibit open to the public, but in war time, at least, the museum per se is the least of our functions, and we like to be thought of as the Army Institute of Pathology, a designation recently authorized by the Surgeon General."

After the war, it evolved into the tri-service Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

Guide to the Collections of the NMHM 2014 (pdf link)

Disclaimer

The opinion or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the U.S. Department of Defense, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology or the National Museum of Health and Medicine.